Unhallowed Lives
by JJoseph
Summary: Homunculii start appearing again, often wreaking havoc on their former loved ones. Who created them and who is pulling the strings? Discontinued. Wasn't sure where I was going with that.
1. Chapter 1 Birth

A/N: This introduction has a few spoilers of the Anime, in that it names which of the Homunculii die throughout the series, as well as speaking briefly about how Homunculii are created. These spoilers are addressed in the very next paragraph. Beyond that, the spoilers won't really show up until the first arch.

A/N:Here we are, my first submission on this site. This is a Full Metal Alchemist fanfiction, based off the Anime. It has no OCs, and no self-inserts. It does have Homunculii not from the original series, but they are brought to life from preexisting characters. This means that any Homunculus who appears was, in some way, a previously living canon character.

It didn't have a mind. It didn't have a body. All it had was a hunger. A hunger to rip flesh and bodies from whatever it saw. It took joy every time it saw those enormous doors open, and felt what humans might call pride every time it could grasp an arm, or a leg, and rip it off whoever owned it. It once even helped claim the body of a child.

This time, when the gate opened, there would be no struggle, no fight, no hard earned intestine or muscle. It saw those immaculate doors open, but it itself was pulled outside. And everything returned to black.

Then everything became gray. It heard voices. A voice that sounded familiar, and a voice that sounded different.

"...this before, so I don't know how," it was different. The voice said the things it should have said, but it sounded different. Perhaps due to an illness? This voice didn't normally sound like that, did it?

"Quiet old man," this voice sounded familiar, but the voice said things it shouldn't have said. The voice sounded too greedy. Too impatient. "He's waking up. Which one is he, now?"

"Hm..." the different voice was thoughtful, as though the next words out of his mouth bore some great importance. "Lust, Pride, and Sloth are dead, we know that. The other three are probably still alive, although I have my doubts about Envy."

"Listen up, freak show," the familiar voice seemed to change direction. "Which sounds like a good name for you, Lust, Pride, or Sloth?"

Grey faded into shapes. A tall shape that looked different, and another that looked the same as it once did. Too much the same.

"Name?" It slowly formed the word, it didn't know how. "What... is name?"

This angered the familiar voice. The voice came from the smaller shape, and scowled at the taller shape.

"Do you call this 'intact'?" the smaller shape came into focus, and clenched its hands... they were called hands?

"O-once it has a fully formed body," the taller shape withdrew. It looked like it was covered by something. Something that belonged somewhere else.

Its gaze shifted back to the smaller shape. It opened its mouth and formed words. Words it felt as though it had said before, but it had never said them before.

"You look... like..."

The smaller shape shifted back to It.

"You are..."

"See, just give him time?" the taller shape sighed nervously.

"So small I could crush you like an ant," It finished.

The taller shape paled, as the shorter shape reddened.

"G... Greed?" the taller shape inhaled.

The shorter shape fell backwards, and started laughing.

Gasping for breath, the smaller shape whispered.

"Pride it is."

A/N: Greed, in this fanfiction, is not the original Greed, but a replacement. As with Pride, and most/all the Homunculii who will appear in the fanfiction. 


	2. Chapter 2 Brother

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Full Metal Alchemist. 

A/N: At this point in time, it is relevant to mention this chapter begins a year or a year and a half after the anime ends, late December. Nothing before the end of the anime is altered, but changes since that point have occurred. Also, there are no OCs in this fanfiction beyond the "new" homunculii, and they're created from and by canon characters. I have nothing against OCs.

One more thing, I apologize for my frequent submission and subsequent deletion of this chapter. I am a perfectionist, and had more difficulty with this chapter than the previous.

----

The sun rose to the east, several minutes later than expected. Either the sun was late, or his watch was fast. He carefully adjusted it to read 8:12 A.M. Thirty minutes passed. Either the train was late, or his watch was fast. Or something happened to the train. He sighed.

_This is inconvenient._ The train wasn't going to show up. It was safe to assume Greed made sure of that. He'd have to travel on foot, now.

_I don't have to get through security, now._ He adjusted his hold on his package. His shoulder was already getting sore. It was heavy, but it was safer to just keep it out. Otherwise, he'd have to risk being assaulted unarmed. It wasn't likely, but his luck went against likelihood.

He started walking. If they wanted to delay him, his best course of action was to act quickly. He fully suppressed a smile. They didn't know what he was capable of. On that note, neither did he.

----

At the Rockbell household, another satisfied customer was trying out his new automail leg. He was an odd man, and spoke little. He arrived with his daughter, bleeding profusely from his arm and leg, and offered no explanation to his injuries. It wasn't the first time this happened to them, and they were prepared. They had ruled out human transmutation, but still didn't pry into his business.

"How's that?" Pinako watched him stand.

"It feels quite well, yes, e-except for the blinding pain, of course," laughed a raspy voice.

"That's because you tried to cut rehabilitation short," Pinako grunted. "Seriously, three years cut down to three months? Not even Edward went that far."

He muttered something as he got to his feet. It would take some time to get used to automail.

"At least we saved the arm," Winry voiced.

"Yes, that's most fortunate. I'm grateful. To both of you," he smiled. "But I'm afraid I must take my leave. Yes, I should."

They said their goodbyes as he left the Rockbell household.

He smiled as he stepped onto the front porch. "I'm glad they didn't recognize us..."

"We wouldn't have had to worry about that at all if you hadn't been such an idiot," she sneered. After all, it came out of her savings to pay for the automail. Now they'd have to cut costs even further.

----

Al hesitantly raised his hand to knock on the door of the Curtis household. He already knew how Sig would respond.

The door opened slowly. Sig patted Al on the head in the threateningly way he always did, even though he meant to be friendly.

"H-hello Mr. Curtis."

"Izumi cannot oversee your training today."

Al suppressed a frown. It was likely worse than Sig let on.

"I hope she's better next time," Al said slowly. He'd been saying that fairly often recently.

Sig nodded and slowly returned inside. If Izumi didn't even ask to see Alphonse...

"Sensei," Al muttered softly as he walked off. It was time to go home, anyway.

He walked towards the train station, kicking pebbles out of his way. He wondered if he should get the alchemy exams out of the way. He could probably become a state alchemist within a year or two.

"Um, hello?" Al heard a voice pipe.

Al glanced upward. He saw a standard blue military uniform. Looking further, he saw black hair and eyes that looked about to cry. He was holding onto a piece of paper. Al guessed it was a map.

"Yes, sir?" Al paused. This guy looked kinda creepy.

"Do, do you live around here?" he spoke as though his voice was about to crack.

"No, I live over in Risembool," Al tilted his head slightly.

The man mimicked the gesture. His eye line returned to his map.

"This isn't Risembool?"

"No, it... it isn't," Al sighed inward, unsure why he felt sweat beneath his gloves.

His eyes watered. "B-but if this isn't Risembool..."

Al backed up, sincerely hoping this wasn't going where he thought it was going.

He covered his face. "She's going to be sooo mad at me!"

"U-um, sir," Al held both hands outward. There were too many things wrong with this picture.

"All I had to do was get in Risembool, and I can't even do that right," he fell to his knees. "I'm worthless, so very worthless."

Al awkwardly patted his back. "I-I'm sure you'll be fine."

"That's just it," he sniffed. "I'll be fine no matter what she does, even if I die a couple times." He resumed sobbing.

"W-what?" Al withdrew his hand. "Who's she?"

He rose his face to Alphonse. "She, she is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

He grasped Alphonse's hands and rose to his feet, lifting Al off the ground. "She has the most beautiful name that I'm not allowed to say, and I've got pictures!"

He let go to reach into his pockets. As Al hit the ground, he withdrew three small pictures, but kept them turned away from Alphonse.

"This is one of her as a little girl," his smile beamed, but it stayed facing away from Al. "And here's one of her as a young woman, and this is one of her as a little girl again, I forget the order I'm supposed to see them in."

"Um, you didn't show them to me," Al winced, returning to his feet.

"Isn't it a shame," he almost started crying again. "She said I can't show them to anyone, and you don't know how much I want to."

"That's fine," Al sighed.

"But now she's going to be angry with me!" his eyes watered again. "And then she's going to be mean to me."

Al waved his hands. "You just have to get to Risembool?"

"Mm-hmm," he choked back.

"I-I know how to get there," Al couldn't stand to see a grown man cry... anymore.

He smiled, and Al stepped back.

With lightning reflexes, the man tackled Alphonse in a hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" He started crushing Al's lungs.

"W-we should... h-hurry," Al gasped.

"Right."

----

Izumi rested in her bed. Her voice and mannerisms were docile, defeated. She couldn't bring herself to let anyone see her like this.

"I always thought I'd fight it to the end," she sounded tired. "I hadn't expected this."

"You've earned rest, Izumi," Sig sounded uncharacteristically solemn. "At least we'll be together."

He sighed, nearly regretting the words he'd just said, knowing they were of little comfort.

"I'm sorry."

Izumi weakly raised her hand to Sig's face.

"You don't have to apologize."

----

He checked his watch; 4:37 P.M. It was several hours later than the train would have brought him. He could have beaten it, probably, but that would have brought unwanted attention. Regardless, he'd finally reached Risembool.

He glanced to the west. The sun would set in twelve minutes, unless his watch was fast. He briskly walked through several inches of snow. It was a mild winter, but he liked it when it was colder.

In mild temperatures he stood out in his cloak-like coat, with its cone around his nose and drop off several inches above his feet. Despite its appearance, it could be worn with comfort even in summer months. As long as he remembered to brush his hair to the back, it stayed out of the way. He silently weighed the benefits of getting a haircut versus the cold feeling on the back of his neck.

He adjusted the neckline as he stared in front of the Rockbell household. He saw a girl with unapologetic eyes, and her hands were in fists. She expected a fight. She was thin, anemic really, and wore loose clothing to hide it. He exhaled into his gloves and rubbed his hands together. The old man who posed as her father was probably hiding somewhere nearby.

"You're supposed to be in Central," the thin girl gritted her teeth.

"You're supposed to be a child," retorted the cloaked man.

He removed his package from his back. Starting to untie it, he saw a faint shimmer of metal. He paused. He felt tired.

"Are we going to fight?" He sounded legitimately curious.

She swallowed. Last time they fought, she won, but he could barely stand back then. He would likely do better this time around. She preferred to outnumber him.

_I should have known better than to trust that pervert to show up on time._

"I had to travel on foot," he sighed. "It was tiring. I'd rather we fought later."

"Are you saying we can leave?" She slowly enunciated. It was too dangerous to fight him here, anyway.

He rubbed his shoulder. "I probably shouldn't let you go. You three are dangerous. My best chance at victory is to fight you one at a time. You don't normally travel alone. It's unlikely I'll get another chance anytime soon."

"Greeeeeeeeeeed!" Both had their attentions drawn as a man in a standard military uniform tackled the girl.

"I was soo worried," he sounded relieved. "I thought that without me here..."

"G-get off me you perverted freak!" She rose to her feet.

The cloaked man glared. He retied the package. With both of them here, it would not make a difference anyway.

"I have decided not to fight," he tilted his head.

She gritted her teeth. She sincerely wanted to kill him, but would rather battle on her own terms. There were too many witnesses.

"Lust, let's go."

"But I just got here."

"Shut up!"

She, the military man, and the old man walked off, feeling unsatisfied. It wasn't the conclusion she'd wanted, but she didn't come there to fight. Besides, the residents of Risembool were more valuable alive. At least for a while.

The cloaked man walked to the Rockbell house and knocked.

Winry answered. "Edward?"

----

"Major General Hakuro."

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"We've just received a report concerning a mass grave robbing, sir."

"And how does this concern my time, Lieutenant?"

"Th-that relates to the identities of those whose bodies were stolen, sir."

"Who?"

"Um... The entire Central military graveyard, sir."

----

A/N: Please don't give it away if you've figured out who Greed is. Same with Lust and "old man".


	3. Chapter 3 Friend

A/N: This chapter starts getting into the plot.

Disclaimer: I own none of this series, and add to it no OCs.

Edit: Fixed several errors, going to proofread more closely next time.

----

"The military is in disarray," Hakuro struck his fist on his desk. "Armstrong left the military, Mustang refuses to use alchemy. Not to mention all that crap Archer and Bradley caused shortly before their mutual demises. The candidates for State Alchemist have also degraded. Last year we didn't even select one."

He let out a sigh and placed his hands on his forehead. He was among the highest ranking military officials, and it was a military that had been virtually destroyed.

"There is some good news, sir," his Lieutenant tried to smile. He handed a report to Hakuro.

Briefly surveying it, Hakuro allowed a slight smirk.

"Fullmetal..."

----

"Thank you for your hospitality," Ed showed a faint smile at Pinako. He sipped from his cup.

"It's not every day a family friend comes back from the dead," Pinako grinned.

"I, I did not die," he frowned. "I was pulled through the Gate."

"How'd you get back?"

"I am unsure," he sighed. "I woke, and I was back. I don't even know how long ago it was. A few days ago, I remembered that I used to live here, and it all flooded back."

Pinako nodded. Al and Winry smiled.

"Still, I barely recognized you at all," Pinako said.

"Why is that?" he tilted his head.

"You're soft-spoken, polite, and most of all," Pinako paused for dramatic effect. "You used to be a lot shorter."

Ed's eye twitched. Calmly setting his glass down and rising to his feet, he took a breath.

"Who you calling so short that an ant could squash him?" He fumed, eyes widened with rage.

Pinako, Winry, and Al started laughing.

"At least we know it's you," Winry chuckled.

----

"I don't get that blond freak," Greed sighed. "What's he after? He just up and decides not to fight with us?"

"Maybe it's enough to see your beautiful face."

"Less talking, more foot-massaging, pervert," she gritted her teeth. "And stop moaning. Old man, any progress?"

"Not as much as we'd hoped, no, not at all," he sighed. "We'll need more. Far far more than the meager samples I've been receiving."

"Maybe we could use Pride," Greed grinned.

The "old man" scratched the back of his neck. "I'm afraid that would be ill-advised."

"Why's that?" Greed glared.

"It appears, as we no longer have the entire body, he has obtained Lust's weakness, and may indeed have yours as well," he rasped. "It seems unlikely we could defeat him."

"My weakness?" Greed wore a look of disgust. "How could he possibly get that?"

"It's only a precaution, Greed," he held his hands to protect himself. "There's no way of knowing what happened to your remains, all things considered. He is vain, but he is not foolish."

"Sloth?" she sighed. They'd only just finished this Homunculus, so she didn't have a derogatory name for it yet. She'd think of one, though.

"Mm?"

"What's Edward up to?"

"Is odd," it sighed. "He's there, but he's nah tellin' anyone abou' us. Jus' stayin' there."

"Perhaps he doesn't want them involved," the old man sighed. "At least, not yet."

----

Edward glanced at his watch. It was getting late.

"I think Al and I should head off soon," he spoke slowly.

"Really? But it's only eight o'clock," Winry looked saddened. She looked over his shoulder. She frowned.

Ed bit his tongue. "We'll have to get some rest tonight. We have to leave for Central so we can study for the State Alchemist exam."

"A-already?" Winry bit her lip. "You just got back. Maybe your automail can use a tune-up."

Edward drew up his sleeve slightly, allowing his fully-flesh arm to be visible.

"Since we've both gotten our bodies back, and since Al doesn't remember the first adventure," Ed almost started to grin. He started to sound excited. "We could have another one."

Al gaped. It sounded pre-planned. "That sounds great."

Winry appeared devastated, but said nothing.

Al and Ed departed. Fortunately, Al had rebuilt their house with alchemy several months earlier. With Ed's return, he felt slightly worried they'd burn it down again.

"Ed?"

"Yeah, Al?"

"You're sure I'll be able to pass the State Alchemy exam?"

"It's half a year away. You passed last time with roughly that long to study," Ed showed a friendly grin.

"Yeah..."

----

"Major General Hakuro," the Lieutenant stood to attention.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Hakuro sounded annoyed. Despite Fullmetal being spotted, they were having undeniable difficulty in locating him. He sighed.

"A young lady wishes to speak to you. She has an appointment."

"Ah, this Greed girl. Show her in," Hakuro smiled slightly. He'd heard she was quite attractive, although that certainly didn't affect his decision to see her... At least not to any degree he would freely admit.

The Lieutenant quickly dismissed himself as a 100 cm girl stepped into the room.

Hakuro tilted his head. "You're Greed?"

"Yep, ear piece," she grinned, helping herself to a chair.

"Ear piece?" Hakuro started regretting allowing her to enter.

"Since you got a part of your ear blown off," she continued to grin. She made a firing gun gesture with her hand. "Bang."

"I didn't agree to the appointment just to allow a little girl to insult me," Hakuro glared. He pressed the intercom button.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Greed sounded playful.

"And why is that?" Major General Hakuro was getting sick of this.

Hakuro found himself pinned to his desk, as the first blew on her fingers. He hadn't seen anyone else...

"There are two of you?" he glared.

"More, actually," the first started filing her nails, wiping them on her shirt. She stood to her feet and approached him. She placed her hands on his cheeks and forced him to make eye contact.

"What do you want, you little witch?"

"This friend," she smiled playfully. "He's pretty high ranking, in fact. I want him reinstated."

"And if I disagree? You two aren't much a threat to an entire building of trained military," he smiled arrogantly.

"Don't have to be," she chuckled. "Change your mind?"

"Is that it?" he scoffed. "Just some idle threat?"

"Hardly," Greed smiled. She knew he wasn't taking her seriously, otherwise he would have yelled for help. "Maybe if you knew who my friend was. You'll find him rather persuasive."

The man leaned over as he released his grip. He wore a full military uniform, complete with a Brigadier General shoulder piece. He saluted Hakuro.

"I-impossible..."

Lust grinned, and took off his standard issue military gloves.

----

Edward lied in bed. He felt ill. He couldn't seem to fall asleep. He got to his feet, and looked over at Al.

Al was fast asleep. Having just returned from Izumi's, Ed had a pretty good idea why Al would be tired. He got a glass of water to settle his stomach when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Ed cautiously answered it.

"Fullmetal," an older male voice answered.

"Do I know you?" Ed tilted his head.

"Yes, you saved my life once," he chuckled.

"Could you be more specific?" Ed responded.

"Ah, yes. I'm Major General Hakuro. I recommended you for the Alchemy exam."

"Oh yeah, 'ear piece'. How's it been?"

Ed heard a girl laugh through the phone.

"'E-ear piece, you're a clever one," Hakuro sounded annoyed. "I didn't call for idle chatter. It's come to our attention that you haven't had your annual report in. I don't know where you've been, but you're going to have to retake the exam."

"What?" Ed bit his lip. "No way!"

"You should do fine, Fullmetal."

Ed hung up the phone, agitated, and stabbed a piece of metal through the wall.

----

A/N: Points to whoever can figure out the Homunculus powers used in this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4 Two Liars

A/N: The first section contains highly questionable content, and forced the rating to change from T to M. The scene is incomplete, and is further elaborated upon in later chapters. The remainder of this chapter does not contain such content. 

Disclaimer: I own none of this, and submit no OCs

-  
A/N: You've been warned, this section required the fanfiction to be rated M in accordance to strict rating policy. Izumi-Bashing  
----

Several days earlier:

"You are already dying, why do you bother fighting, Izumi-chan?"

"Because I'm not dead yet," Izumi grinned, tasting the nearly sweet iron blood in her mouth.

"Then let us continue," the man returned a friendly smile, with a strongly dark undertone.

Both clapped their hands. Izumi struck the ground, causing a massive fist to approach her opponent. He, on the other hand, touched his clothing, and "pulled" out a scythe.

Crouching slightly, the man split the stone fist in half, and leaped at Izumi. They fought nearly on even ground in close quarters, although Izumi occasionally grappled and threw him, he was healthier and more resilient. She clutched her side, noticing a wound he'd inflicted. He was trying to use a battle of attrition. If she were to defeat him, she'd have to do it quickly.

Dashing in closely, Izumi clapped her hands and, faster than he could respond, placed them on his chest. Blood and flesh spewed from his back, as well as shards of his clothing. Izumi fell to her knees, gasping.

"No one," Izumi paused to breathe. "Threatens my students."

Izumi leaned over so she could see him better. His shirt seemed to cover his skin entirely, and she now saw why. From his right wrist to his neck was a crimson tattoo. It also extended across his midsection, and may have gone on to his leg, although his midsection was... missing.

But Izumi didn't care about that. She cared about his face. It was a face she recognized, and thought she would never see again.

"Ach," Izumi gasped in pain. She withdrew quickly, finding a dagger in her chest. It wasn't bleeding, somehow, and apparently wouldn't until she removed it.

"Damn," the man sighed. "I missed your heart. I think I hit a lung."

"H-how..." Izumi gasped.

The man rose to his feet. He placed his hand in the air, and a spear materialized.

"I don't need circles to transmute. Hell, I don't even need to clap my hands," he grinned. His wound across his stomach was healing at an unnatural rate.

"Y-you're a," Izumi wheezed. "H-Homunculus."

At a speed much faster than before in their fight, the man dashed at Izumi and impaled her arm. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her body as though it were a doll.

"You're just like that twisted little girl who calls me freak show, and that old man who calls me Pride. I'm not just a fucking 'artificial human', I'm more than a human like you can ever comprehend. I'm going to punish you for this insult," his face distorted into a sickening grin. "I'm going to see your face cringe in pain and fear, I'm going to smell your sweat and taste your tears, I'm going to feel your flesh tear and bruise, and I'm going to hear you scream my name as you beg me to stop. And you'd better get it right."

A/N: End of questionable content.  
----

The "Present":

"This is going to be great," Al could hardly sit still, making it difficult to eat his cereal.

"Al," Edward watched his own grow soggy in its milk. He really didn't want to eat it.

"We're going to go across the landscape making a name for ourselves," Al babbled.

"Al..."

"And we'll be known as..."

"Al!" Edward barked.

Al jostled and nearly fell over. "Sorry, nii-san."

Edward sighed. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Is it about losing your State Alchemist status and puncturing a hole in the wall?" Al seemed more concerned over the wall.

Ed wore a blank look on his face. Shrugging off how Al would know about that, he started. "No, it's more important than that."

Al sat back down.

"I wasn't entirely honest with you, Winry, and Pinako," Edward broke eye contact. "It's because I don't want Winry or Pinako involved."

Al's eyes widened. He felt his hand sweating.

"The truth of the matter is that I didn't regain my memories a few days ago, it was just over three months ago. The reason I took so long to get back here," Edward paused out of shame. "Was because I did something reckless and stupid.

"I wasn't lucky and 'just so happened' to be pulled through the Gate. I was specifically selected because of my talents and knowledge of alchemy. I don't know how much of our previous adventure you've found out, but along the way we met more than our fair share of dangerous situations. Especially when we made enemies with Dante and the Homunculii."

"Homunculii?" Al gaped. "Like Wrath?"

"Yeah, like Wrath," Edward allowed a small grin. "After I got back I was able to confirm the death of Pride, or King Bradley as most knew him, so the only Homunculii left should have been Gluttony, Dante, and Wrath, although Dante's technically not a Homunculus. Wrath's a friend now, so we don't have to worry about him."

"You think Dante and Gluttony are..." Al paused.

"No, Gluttony had lost his mind, he's probably trapped down there yet, if still alive," Edward held his chin. "And by now, Dante may have died anyway from soul rejection, if not killed by something else. No, a more pressing concern is the little witch who's trying to take her place."

Edward rose to his feet. He seemed nervous about talking this over to Alphonse. "Six months ago, I was brought back. It was by an man and a Homunculus he created named Greed. We apparently met him during our adventure, but I didn't recognize them. They seem to use alchemy to alter their appearances frequently. They were annoyed that I couldn't seem to remember anything at first, but that changed soon enough, since I still remembered most of what I knew about alchemy. From what I can tell, they've been reviving alchemists and using them as sacrifices."

Edward paused again. He poured himself some water and drank it slowly. He started being able to smell the sweat gathering in the room, unsure if it were his or Alphonse's.

"What are they trying to do?" Al spoke up as the silence slowly became awkward.

"I don't really know. Whatever it is, it looks as though it has something to do with the Stone," Edward grimaced. "It always has something to do with the Stone. What's worse, when I was called last night, I heard Greed's voice. I think Major General Hakuro's helping them."

----

"I'm glad to see you're taking me more seriously, now, Major General Hakuro," Greed held a satisfied look on her face.

"It's not every day I receive such a generous offer, Grand Homunculus Greed," he returned a nearly genuine smile. "And all at a very reasonable price."

"It's a deal?" Greed smiled back.

"But of course," Hakuro extended a hand.

----

"Jus' go 'ome, Lust," hissed Sloth, while trying to read.

"But what if they don't like me there," he whined.

"Then use ya creepy mind powers," Sloth set down the newspaper. "Yall do fine. This 'bipolar' thing ya got goin is annoyin the hell outta me. Switch ova to that evil one."

"I can't control it," Lust sighed. "Only on other people."

----

"Fortunately, they seem to think there's a limit to the number of Homunculii they can create," Edward expressed a slight relaxation. "They think only seven can exist at any one time, and don't care to try to make more. They had a Greed and Lust when I left, and they'll probably make a Sloth, or already made one. If we find Wrath, we should be an even match."

"Then let's get to it!" Alphonse sounded excited, but determined.

Edward allowed himself a slight smile, but it faded. "First, though, I think it's necessary that you know who they used to create Lust. His name is..."

----

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," laughed a little girl. "So keep bakin' those cookies."

"Go ahead dear," her mother smiled.

She opened it and looked up. He was really tall.

"Hello," he smiled in a nearly congratulatory manner. "Aren't you adorable. Is Mommy home?"

The girl nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Dear? Who is it?" her mother stepped from the kitchen, carrying a large bowl of cookie dough. Staring into the doorway, she dropped the bowl completely, shattering against the hard floor.

"But, you," she paled.

"You recognize me, Gracia?" Lust smiled broadly and saluted. "Brigadier General Maes Hughes."

----

A/N: Apologies to anyone who accidentally read Pride's speech. It's actually less explicit than I wanted it, as originally it wasn't going to be a speech. I'll conclude these actions of his next chapter. Although that's not everything he's done by this point.


	5. Discontinued Plotlines

A/N: Well, here we are. This "chapter" is a nice little list of everything I was trying to be subtle about. This chapter is created because frankly, I hate it when authors leave things unfinished, so I figure I should at least have the decency to explain where I was going with all that.

Pride is Edward, and believes himself to be Edward. Presumably the real Edward was going to show up later, and probably defeat him soundly since Edward's mere presence would cause him harm.  
Sloth is Scar's brother. This wasn't really a secret, I just never found a good point to reveal it. I never thought of his power.  
Lust is Hughes, and his power had something to do with manipulation of memories.  
Envy, Wrath, and Gluttony are still alive, and were going to show up when Edward came back through the gate, or otherwise as they did in Conqueror of Shamballa.

Pride attacked and severely injured Izumi and Sig Curtis after they doubted his identity.

The real secret, now, was the identity of Greed and "the old man". These two are Nina and Shou Tucker respectively. This means the artificial human Shou created near the end of the anime became a full on homunculus. This was going to be a big reveal. Greed's power is to create doubles of herself by splitting her lives into separate bodies.  
Their plan is essentially taking Dante's place as supreme ruler and alchemist. 


End file.
